Doctor Who Series 11 Official Thread

New lead, new companions, new showrunner, new writing team, new logo, new composer... We're in for something else, is what I'm saying.

Premiering in October 2018.

by Anonymous

reply 416

02/11/2019

This is a thread for Doctor Who news and general discussion, and Series 11 post-episode discussion. Please keep the spoilers and the leaks in the thread below, which someone already created. Note that casting announcements are generally not considered to be spoilers.

by Anonymous

reply 1

07/13/2018

The Doctor Who Comic-Con panel takes place Thursday 19th July at 11.45 am local time. [bold]The first trailer will air during the World Cup final this Sunday.[/bold]

by Anonymous

reply 2

07/13/2018

Jesus Christ, it's been ages and yet I didn't catch up with the series watching the last Christmas special. Has "Class" been officially canceled yet? The first season was great, but apparently not popular, or successful, enough which is a darn shame.

by Anonymous

reply 3

07/13/2018

r3 I keep forgetting to check out Class, even though someone recommended it to me here on DL. But yes, it's been cancelled back in September.

by Anonymous

reply 4

07/13/2018

Class was cancelled last year, unfortunately. I liked it and the prince guy was hot, hot hot. Also if you follow his Instagram he's been working out since then and has gotten buff.

by Anonymous

reply 5

07/13/2018

r5 His body is hot but what a thirst trap that Insta is. The photos of him and his wife look like photos of a gay guy and his lesbian friend. And they're both [italic]really[/italic] into protein powder and working out. Very peculiar.

by Anonymous

reply 6

07/13/2018

Here he is doing a series of yoga poses.

by Anonymous

reply 7

07/13/2018

r7 For some reason, that annoys me almost as much as Hilaria Baldwin doing yoga on a plane. And I'm addicted to yoga myself, by the way.

He and his "wife" are on my irrational hate list now.

by Anonymous

reply 8

07/13/2018

[bold]Time trials: How Jodie Whittaker became the new face of Doctor Who[/bold]

[quote]Whitaker auditioned for Chibnall and the show’s executive producer Matt Strevens, reading specially-written script pages designed to see if she could handle the many different emotional sides of the eccentric Time Lord. The pair then asked the Broadchurch star to self-tape herself spouting what Whittaker describes as “sci-fi gobbledygook,” something she found surprisingly enjoyable. “I had an iPhone, wires, in a box,” she says. “I pretended to defuse something, and I loved it.”

[quote]Strevens reveals that he and Chibnall “saw a few actresses for the part,” but couldn’t stop thinking about Whittaker. “She was just so compelling,” says the EP. “In a way, it was a no-brainer. The fact that we were casting a female Doctor disappeared really quickly from our minds. We were just casting the Doctor and she felt like our Doctor.” Chibnall says that casting Whittaker “was the easiest decision I made in my whole career.”

by Anonymous

reply 9

07/14/2018

The new composer's kinda cute.

by Anonymous

reply 10

07/14/2018

Teaser, mainly introducing her new companions.

by Anonymous

reply 11

07/15/2018

It all depends on the writing. I'll give it a shot, but I'm don't know that I'm all that interested in a female doctor. We'll see.

by Anonymous

reply 12

07/15/2018

Is there really something so inherently captivating about the male body that you would watch The Doctor sit at a table without saying anything for an hour every week? Of course not; it all depends on what comes out of his/her mouth and what he/she does. You know, just like in the real world.

Seems weird to me to be so stuck on the chromosomes of The Doctor's current suit.

by Anonymous

reply 13

07/15/2018

Wait a minute!? Chibnall was in on the casting and didn't talk Dylan Moran into being the next Doctor? Lies and corruption!!!!! ;-(

by Anonymous

reply 14

07/15/2018

The Muppets - and Special Guest - at O2. (There's also clips of the same skit featuring Peter Davison.)

[quote]In 1979, a BBC strike halted production of Doctor Who’s 17th series, leaving its final, Douglas Adams-penned story incomplete. Now, the original footage has been remastered and recut with hand-drawn animation to fill in the visual gaps of episodes where the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and his companion Romana (Lalla Ward) visit the high-security prison planet of Shada. There they encounter a villainous alien trying to amass criminal knowledge and a retired Time Lord guarding a secret that, in the wrong hands, could mean the end of the universe as we know it. [AV Club]

by Anonymous

reply 16

07/19/2018

Official trailer!

by Anonymous

reply 17

07/19/2018

^^ Dat accent tho.

by Anonymous

reply 18

07/19/2018

The poster's cool and I like the updated look of the screwdriver.

by Anonymous

reply 19

07/19/2018

[bold]Doctor Who series 11 won't feature any two-part stories[/bold]

[quote]"It's 10 standalone episodes, there's no two-parters or anything like that," Chibnall told us during an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

[quote]"What we want is for people to feel like we've got the range and variety of Doctor Who this year. So if you've never seen it before, you're gonna fall in love with it, and if you have seen it, you're gonna get those things that you love about the show across the 10 episodes."

I'm fully on board with that reasoning. Bring as many new viewers on board as possible.

by Anonymous

reply 20

07/19/2018

[bold]Doctor Who Season 11 To Feature Show’s FIRST Writers Of Color[/bold]

[quote]The upcoming Doctor Who season 11 continues to break new ground for the series as the new season will feature the first writers of color to ever work for the show. The new season will see more diversity, both inside and outside of the TARDIS.

[quote]It's hard to believe that in the long history of Doctor Who, no writers of color have ever worked for the series. But in looking at its history, the writer's room has never been that diverse. In the 55 years that the show has existed, only nine women have served as writers. That's kind of strange considering the series would not exist without producer Verity Lambert, who helped bring the very first episodes of the series to television sets across Britain. But even odder is that no person of color has ever written for the show, although those early episodes were directed by a British man of Indian descent, Waris Hussein.

[quote]That all changes with season 11, though. For the first time, Doctor Who will have writers of color working on the show. In a press conference before the show's big panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2018, new showrunner Chris Chibnall spoke about the series' efforts in diversity.

[quote]“It should be the most inclusive show on television. The whole concept of Doctor Who is that anyone can go anywhere.”

by Anonymous

reply 21

07/20/2018

I'm mostly glad Moffat is gone. Yes, the "Girl in the Fireplace" was one of the best episodes (as was "Blink") but he made a mess out of his run. The "Silence Will Fall" and all the crap he had drag on for 3 years was awful. There was no payoff in the end worth the 3 year wait he put viewers through. Many of his other plot lines were indecipherable and bizarre. I know people complained that Davies was too cartoonish and his characters were childish - but those seasons are what revived the series & it was always a campy show, historically.

by Anonymous

reply 22

07/20/2018

"Is there really something so inherently captivating about the male body that you would watch The Doctor sit at a table without saying anything for an hour every week? "

Um, no it's not, dipshit - I mean R13. It's visual, it's entertainment, it's pretty men who I want to look at onscreen. Take those lofty ideals about your favorite long running soap to some fanboy site, but don't pretend here that there's any difference between one sort of male eye candy and another.

by Anonymous

reply 26

07/20/2018

It bothers me that this female doctor has perfectly coifed hair and makeup on.

The Doctor has spend how the hell many centuries presenting as male, how the hell would he know how to do makeup and the proper way to flat-iron hair into a perfectly immobile bob?

by Anonymous

reply 27

07/20/2018

I just assume she has her hair done at the same place Matt Smith got his wig done for his final scene on the show.

by Anonymous

reply 28

07/20/2018

A Sarah Jane Adventures re-boot!

(seriously...?)

by Anonymous

reply 29

07/20/2018

"Is it still The Doctor or is it The Lady Doctor? The Doctress? My brain hurts!"

by Anonymous

reply 30

07/20/2018

River Song or Missy should've been the female doctor. They are quirky, wise and interesting enough to pull it off. This new female doctor? - No Thanks, I will pass until they have a male doctor again.

by Anonymous

reply 31

07/20/2018

r31 Your last sentence literally discredits the point you were making in the first two. Also, Missy or River becoming The Doctor makes zero sense if you're even passingly familiar with this show. They're already their own characters and it's not like "The Doctor" is just a moniker that passes from one person to another. Jesus.

by Anonymous

reply 32

07/20/2018

Actually, R31, the existence of Missy and River Song proves the existence of actresses who are intelligent and charismatic enough to play the Doctor.

I just hope Whittaker is another one in that category, but I've never seen her work. I will tune in long enough to see if she's up to the mark, and for her entire run if she is.

by Anonymous

reply 33

07/20/2018

The characters of Missy and River are intelligent because they're written to be intelligent. Look towards older Star Trek to see brilliant women being written as blubbering idiots. Most anyone who's gone through basic training in acting can pull off convincingly playing a dimwit or a genius. Jodie has graduated Guildhall with the highest degree, so she'll do more than fine in this. It's just a silly show at the end of the day.

As for charisma, we'll see. I have my doubts on that front as well.

by Anonymous

reply 34

07/20/2018

r22 I don't like how BBC has this business of Doctor Who set up in the first place. Every showrunner should be contracted for three to five seasons at most and then they should be replaced with a new one. Because otherwise they become this superstar when things are going great, and a hated person when they're not. And the latter seeps into my enjoyment of the show because all I can see anymore is their tired-ass formula. Creative juices run out eventually, which is only natural. I just wish they'd plan for it beforehand.

Anyway, here's Jodie doing an epic catwalk at Comic-Con.

by Anonymous

reply 35

07/25/2018

[bold]There's a very clever reason why Doctor Who series 11 will have three companions[/bold]

[quote]"I love Doctor Who as a big, popular, mainstream, accessible show," Chibnall said. "So I wanted to make sure that every member of the audience felt they had a relatable character, an access point. Hopefully it means that the show can resonate with the broadest possible audience. And of course, three companions with the Doctor... we're really going back to 1963 – that's the format of the show! You're not changing the format, that's how it started, really – which I only realised afterwards."

[quote]The Doctor's new friends – Chibnall says not calling them "companions" just feels "a bit more natural" but "is in no way a rule or edict from now on" – include Yaz (Mandip Gill), who is "in absolute awe of the Doctor" and Ryan (Tosin Cole), who "challenges the Doctor from time to time, gets it right sometimes, but wrong a lot of the time".

[quote]"People have an 'in', in three different ways," Gill added. "We all bring something different to the group, with gender, race, everything. And just the personalities of the three characters are very different.

by Anonymous

reply 36

07/25/2018

Well, why not three companions, they've done it several times before.

by Anonymous

reply 37

07/25/2018

r37 I've never seen the pre-reboot series but I'm glad they're opting for more than one companion again. I never much cared for "The Chosen One" trope with Rose, Amelia, and Clara. I want the companions to be enjoyable and well-written characters, but ultimately expendable and replaceable.

[quote]HBO, under orders to do more from new corporate parent WarnerMedia, has handed out a straight-to-series order for a take on Audrey Niffenegger's novel The Time Traveler's Wife.

[quote]The drama, which landed at the premium cabler after a multiple-outlet bidding war, will be adapted by Steven Moffat (Sherlock, Doctor Who). An episode count and premiere date have yet to be determined. Casting has not yet begun. The drama is described as an intricate and magical love story that tells the story of Clare and Henry, and a marriage with a problem ... time travel.

[quote]"I read Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife many years ago, and I fell in love with it," Moffat said. "In fact, I wrote a Doctor Who episode called 'The Girl in the Fireplace' as a direct response to it. When, in her next novel, Audrey had a character watching that very episode, I realized she was probably on to me. All these years later, the chance to adapt the novel itself, is a dream come true. The brave new world of long-form television is now ready for this kind of depth and complexity. It’s a story of happy ever after — but not necessarily in that order.”

by Anonymous

reply 39

07/31/2018

So Chinballs buries The Doctor amongst three relatable companions not called companions?

Bollocks.

He should have let The Doctor be The Doctor.

by Anonymous

reply 40

07/31/2018

[quote]He should have let The Doctor be The Doctor.

r40 You mean like in the 60s when the Doctor also had three companions? I actually think putting two or three people as companions makes the Doctor stand out more as we're not so invested with that Special One, who is so very precious that the existence of the whole universe depends on her. I'm tired of that trope now so this is refreshing.

by Anonymous

reply 41

07/31/2018

I am speaking from a Nu-Who perspective.

It's like they hired a woman and had to slather on the icing.

Of course, in the annals of DW, he did have three companions. Ity is the reason Cinballs gave that is particularly disturbing.

Because it is not about better writing.

by Anonymous

reply 42

07/31/2018

[quote]Ity is the reason Cinballs gave that is particularly disturbing.

You mean his reasoning that he wants to give more (new) viewers an "in" to this relatively hermetic show and so attract fresh viewership, which is crucial for show's long-term survival? I don't see anything disturbing about that; just your basic business sense, really.

by Anonymous

reply 43

07/31/2018

The diminishing returns of Moffat's later seasons seem directly proportional to how insular the writing felt towards the end. I'm all for giving something new a whirl.

by Anonymous

reply 44

07/31/2018

r44 Agreed. These ten episodes are said to be classic Doctor Who in its tone, but with all-new "villains", which is wonderful for those checking it out for the first time. You can always rope the newcomers into additional canon/lore in subsequent seasons.

by Anonymous

reply 45

07/31/2018

I will also say that I've never seen Broadchurch, so I am completely unfamiliar with Jodie Whitaker as an actress. However: A) her smile is completely infectious, and B) I'm so glad they're letting her use her own accent.

She's just female and white? BBC not ticking enough boxes. Surely there was a bi-racial, non-binary refugee actor available.

by Anonymous

reply 51

08/01/2018

r51 Your complaint is entirely nonsensical when you look at the larger context in which this show takes place, i.e. that there have been twelve straight white dudes who had played The Doctor in the TV series up until now. "Box-ticking" didn't come up much back then, did it? Even though a straight white male is just another segment of the population, not the sacred default handed down from the gods.

Well, that segment is now going to be represented by one of the companions. I'm sure you'll learn to live with it eventually, like the rest of us marginalized groups have been doing our entire lives.

by Anonymous

reply 52

08/01/2018

r50 That accent is truly lethal when she first opens her mouth but I got used to it within minutes. Still, it really stands out in that setting.

by Anonymous

reply 53

08/01/2018

r53, noooooooo

by Anonymous

reply 54

08/01/2018

that was a Yorkie nooooo in r54.

by Anonymous

reply 55

08/04/2018

r55 Anyone who didn't get that should be red-tagged immediately.

by Anonymous

reply 56

08/04/2018

Are there any Whovians in the house? Because the Oncoming Storm is about to arrive in Chicago (No! It's not Florence!!!)! Our very own Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, will join Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) at the ACE Comic Con in Chicago (10/12-13)! Geronimo!!!

by Anonymous

reply 57

09/17/2018

I have very low expectations for the Doctress, but then I thought both Matt Smith and Capaldi were each lousy as well. When Tennent left the show I argued for Jane Horrocks as the first female Doctor. I think she would have been brilliant.

by Anonymous

reply 58

09/17/2018

ps- red tagging the guy because he is a Dr Who fanatic? c'mon

by Anonymous

reply 59

09/17/2018

r 56 was recently red agged as it was open posted 8/5. Once you are r tagged it goes across threads.

Could have been a bad boy elsewhere.

And r58, they got a different Jane Horrocks because both are from Yorkshire.

The Yorkshire accent is a bit annoying.

by Anonymous

reply 60

09/17/2018

Anyone watch? Is this still the thread to discuss?

by Anonymous

reply 61

10/07/2018

R60 - Jane Horrocks is very famously from Lancashire, not Yorkshire.

by Anonymous

reply 62

10/07/2018

R61 - I enjoyed it and it's the top trending topic on Twitter so looks like it was well received. I've not seen anyone slate it, anyway.

by Anonymous

reply 63

10/07/2018

It was a solid episode. Jodie is just delightful. I can already tell I’m going to enjoy this new show runner. Never cared for Moffet’s overly complex, convuluted stories.

by Anonymous

reply 64

10/07/2018

Yea - a straightforward narrative and extremely likable first performance from Jodi!

The supporting cast - we’ll see. Didn’t fall immediately in love with them and sadly the character I liked the most meets an unfortunate end.

The tooth creature was visually underwhelming, however. I felt like we’ve seen this creature a million times before.

by Anonymous

reply 65

10/07/2018

Two words about Thirteen: She's awesome.

I would have switched out either Yaz or Ryan for Grace in a heartbeat.

by Anonymous

reply 66

10/07/2018

This episode also (briefly) featured the adorable Amit Shah from the UK series “Crashing”. He would have made an excellent companion to Jodi’s Doctor.

by Anonymous

reply 67

10/07/2018

Poor writing for a meh opener. I hope it gets better.

Liked Jodie but that accent is cringy.

by Anonymous

reply 68

10/07/2018

OP lost me when he dissed Matt Smith and then praised David Tennant, the hammiest ham who ever hammed.

by Anonymous

reply 69

10/07/2018

I ADORE David Tennant's Doctor, R69, he knew that this who isn't strict realism and it's best to play things big some times, and play some things weird some times.

I liked Whittaker on the first go, but I can't say my feelings are stronger than that.

by Anonymous

reply 70

10/08/2018

Jodie Whittaker did a fine job of being David Tennant. Hope she can be herself at some point.

by Anonymous

reply 71

10/08/2018

Story was very average but the cast were great. I look forward to what comes next. And watching Doctor Who in the 1970s in Britain is my earliest memory of anything.

by Anonymous

reply 72

10/09/2018

Joost sit bek and ave foon!

by Anonymous

reply 73

10/09/2018

So when Whittaker leaves the role, if the BBC don’t hire another female actor, will the experiment be seen as a failure?

by Anonymous

reply 74

10/09/2018

Give it time and a few series. So far most Doctors get three series. We will see after that.

by Anonymous

reply 75

10/09/2018

I imagine Tom Hiddleston will be available.

by Anonymous

reply 76

10/09/2018

I was let down by the plot for the season premiere. Star Trek Voyager did the whole "hunting" thing with the hirogen (and did it better) than this episode. Didn't they also keep their human trophies in the same way as tooth-faced man described.

Visually, it was pretty nice, though that squid monster / data collection device looked like it was straight out of The Matrix. I like that the Doctor made the sonic screwdriver from scratch and finally admitted it was a scanner / all-in-one kind of device. I agreed with all of the criticism that it went from opening doors to becoming a total magic wand in recent years.

One of the major pieces of criticism in the Moffat era was that the Doctor would fight enemies by telling them that he's the Doctor and they should just be scared and run away. In the Davies era, someone always sacrificed themselves and died (which happened here). It looks like we are going back to the sacrifice thing. The Moffat monologues of "I'm the doctor - fear me! Run!" were stupid ways to win. The fact that the Doctor grabbed the transport device was a good way out.

The one character who seemed like she'd be a fun companion was killed. The others will have to develop more to see what they can offer. Is he going to have 3? Or is one the Rory and the Wilf?

Jodie's answers during the commercials were soooo saccharine over the top. It's just a show, girl. A very famous show, but still.

by Anonymous

reply 77

10/09/2018

Had good debut numbers but lets see how it pans out.

by Anonymous

reply 78

10/09/2018

The three companions have potential, they're all played by likeable actors and have room for personal growth and for developing interesting relationships. In fact, the writers kind of hit us over the head with how much room for growth and potential for interesting relationships the three companions have. I'd bet quite a lot of real money that the kid with dyspraxia (?) does something that requires super physical coordination during the season finale.

Liked seeing the Doctor think on her feet and have nothing to work with, not even memories, that's a nice direction for the show to take.

by Anonymous

reply 79

10/09/2018

Good camera work, good lighting, good sound design. Technically well made. However the characters felt a bit generic for me, hopefully they get a bit more fleshed out. Script was a bit meh, felt a little flat at times. Some good comedy bits but mostly dark stuff. Very obvious plot points and concequences.

Main question though, does it feel like doctor who? Honestly, not currently, but it is only the first episode.

How's Jodie? She's alright. The other characters didn't stand out for me. I would've preferred one companion.

Overall just ok. While technically well made, the story didnt really do much for me.

by Anonymous

reply 80

10/12/2018

Yeah, couldn't disagree more. The premiere was excellent in every respect, and she's totally "The Doctor". It totally felt like Doctor Who. The other characters were great, and relatable. It'll probably stand as one of my favorite episodes ever (top ten).

by Anonymous

reply 81

10/12/2018

So is it that somewhat incomprehensible/grim Lancashire accent? Or is it Yorkshire?

Anything Mancunian and up (direction wise) takes some ear adjustment, especially if rattled off quickly.

by Anonymous

reply 82

10/12/2018

I have a feeling Jodie was selected in part precisely because of her accent.

by Anonymous

reply 83

10/12/2018

If that is true, r83, then Chinball should have hired Horrocks.

by Anonymous

reply 84

10/12/2018

r84 Jodie has other great qualities, like not being annoying.

by Anonymous

reply 85

10/12/2018

Your irony is killing me, r85.

Noooo, roooon!

by Anonymous

reply 86

10/12/2018

I don't know British accents. What accent does she have,? I also felt like she was just copying one of the other doctors. Hopefully she will put her own stamp on the character as things move along.

by Anonymous

reply 87

10/12/2018

Her boob stamp!

by Anonymous

reply 88

10/12/2018

Really liked everything. Jodie is promising...I liked the fact they didn't make a big deal out of the new gender. The companions have promise. I'm a bit annoyed they killed off the grandma; I liked her the most out of the 4 helpers in the first episode but it's DW so maybe she'll return in some form or the other.

And, it feels new and fresh. Love the new cinematography; dark and cinematic. The show looks very rich now...not as flat and cartoony.

Thrilled with the new production team. Moffat had talent but he overstayed his welcome. Chibnall is bringing a new eye to the material.

by Anonymous

reply 89

10/13/2018

The writing still sucks.

How many episodes for this series?

#2 tomorrow.

by Anonymous

reply 90

10/13/2018

The new title sequence is atrocious. Nothing distinctive, it could be used for just about any TV show.

by Anonymous

reply 91

10/14/2018

The new tardis is way more atrocious than the titles.

by Anonymous

reply 92

10/14/2018

I have a feeling Jodie was selected because she kinda looks like Tennant

by Anonymous

reply 93

10/14/2018

How many seasons until we get a new Doctor?

by Anonymous

reply 94

10/14/2018

three

by Anonymous

reply 95

10/14/2018

Sexy is organic like 10 but she has a crystalline quality like the Fortress of Solitude.

Interesting.

by Anonymous

reply 96

10/14/2018

The female competitor and Billie Piper have the same dentist.

by Anonymous

reply 97

10/14/2018

I will say I absolutely hate the trope of "something is falling towards us, so we're going to run in the only directly that maximizes the chances of it hitting and killing us".

When they saw the crashing ship heading right towards them, they should have run 90 degrees away from it. How is this not obvious to everyone? So annoying.

by Anonymous

reply 98

10/14/2018

r98, agreed. Chinball writes his characters stupid.

by Anonymous

reply 99

10/14/2018

New Theme: Meh

New Title Sequence: Not a fan

New Tardis interior: Hate it

New Doctor: Love her

by Anonymous

reply 100

10/14/2018

Why is the TARDIS so dark inside? And all those cutouts. What a pain to dust.

by Anonymous

reply 101

10/15/2018

The new interior looks like the TARDIS crashed into Superman's Fortress of Solitude and some of the crystals got stuck.

that, or the police box is being attacked by a space crustacean.

by Anonymous

reply 102

10/15/2018

Doctor Who praised by Dyspraxia Foundation for showing Ryan’s condition on primetime telly

by Anonymous

reply 103

10/15/2018

I guess I'm the only one who liked the new TARDIS. The crystal thing looked kind of cool to me. It was too dark though. Maybe it wasn't fully powered up or something.

I thought one of the contestants was going to come back to get the group and then that person was going to win the race because (I thought?) the true prize was finding the TARDIS (the ghost monument)? Maybe I missed something. Anyway, I think that would've been a better ending than the tie.

by Anonymous

reply 104

10/15/2018

r102, Me2.

.

r96

by Anonymous

reply 105

10/15/2018

I like the theme. It sounds a lot more like the original incarnation than any of the themes the revived series has used. That said, my favorite is still the version they used in Donna's season, with the guitars.

The only thing I don't like about the trippy visuals is the lack of a TARDIS.

by Anonymous

reply 106

10/15/2018

The then=me sounds like a version for an antacid tablet.

by Anonymous

reply 107

10/15/2018

then=me = theme^^

All thooombs

by Anonymous

reply 108

10/16/2018

I really like that Graham has taken to calling her "Doc." I can't think of another companion who's done that.

by Anonymous

reply 109

10/16/2018

R109 Peri did - much to the annoyance of the sixth Doctor.

by Anonymous

reply 110

10/17/2018

The second episode started off interesting but I was bored by the end.

by Anonymous

reply 111

10/17/2018

They didn't have to make the villain so hot. (Was that the guy from Revenge?)

Anyway, I like these episodes with inspiring historical figures, even if the effort to tug on heartstrings is a bit too plain. Great use of the Andra Day song. This wasn't Vincent and the Doctor, but it was pretty damn good.

by Anonymous

reply 112

10/21/2018

Yeah it was the guy from Revenge. I think he got a nose job cause it looked rather different.

by Anonymous

reply 113

10/21/2018

Very good episode, Rosa is.

Nice tie in with Rose as a symbolic beginning.

A bit of an after school special exposition at the end but nice.

by Anonymous

reply 114

10/21/2018

I guess one has to figure that part of the audience (possibly the most important part, as far as this episode goes) consists of British kids, who probably don't know much about Rosa Parks. Thus, the tone of the last few minutes is quite easy to forgive. I've seen it a second time. I think this will go down as one of the classics.

by Anonymous

reply 115

10/22/2018

I thought it was really good. The best of the 3 so far. Of course, everyone on Reddit was bitching about it since they never took a history class, thought it was "too PC," contrived, and a bunch of other crap. I have to stop reading sites for shows I like. I stopped reading some of the threads on here where there are trolls who literally watch episodes just to come back to DL and bitch about how awful they were (see the AHS threads...or any Ryan Murphy show actually)

by Anonymous

reply 116

10/22/2018

Whose suitcase was that with the initials GFB?

by Anonymous

reply 117

10/22/2018

It belonged to the Time Bigot, but do you mean who was GFB?

by Anonymous

reply 118

10/22/2018

I just assumed that it's either a setup for more Krasko later in the series or a shoutout to diehard fans. Or both: I'm hardly a diehard but I know Stormcage isn't a new thing. River Song was locked up there.

I for one would love to see River come back. It should be interesting what dynamic Chibnall would create for her and a female Doctor.

by Anonymous

reply 119

10/22/2018

I wonder what the deal is with that racist guy. If he was from the era where they already had vortex manipulators, that's like thousands of years later. How could he still be racist in 5000 AD? Or was that the whole point.

by Anonymous

reply 120

10/22/2018

I enjoyed the first two doctors in the current Doctor who run. Eccleston and Tennant are my guys. I enjoyed their story lines and adventures. But the show became so convoluted and ridiculous during the Smith and Capaldi years, I gave up. Read the link here about Stormcage - it's history and the centuries and River and Rory - oy vey it makes my head spin.

I like the new version, am enjoying the new doctor and the companions. The Rosa Parks was a good "old-fashioned" episode.

by Anonymous

reply 121

10/22/2018

R121 here, fogot the link...

by Anonymous

reply 122

10/22/2018

Withe the three companions, all a different PC flavor, the only thing missing is K9 and this is The Sarah Jane Adventures.

This Doctor needs a sidekick like Donna.

by Anonymous

reply 123

10/22/2018

r121 I agree, even though Eleven is my favourite Doctor. Before Matt Smith, references to old episodes got as far as "Are you my mummy?"

At the every end of Rosa, in the preview of next week's episode, that was Mr. Big, right?

by Anonymous

reply 124

10/22/2018

^At the very end

by Anonymous

reply 125

10/22/2018

Chris Noth, yes.

by Anonymous

reply 126

10/22/2018

Spiders, Arachnids, again?

So Sheffield has never seen the Empress of the Racnoss?

by Anonymous

reply 127

10/22/2018

[quote] If he was from the era where they already had vortex manipulators, that's like thousands of years later. How could he still be racist in 5000 AD? Or was that the whole point.

That was, in fact, the whole point. That bigotry, racism, and more are something we have to constantly battle against. It's never just "fixed" and we move on. Things may get better, but we'll never get to perfection. It takes constant vigilance.

by Anonymous

reply 128

10/22/2018

[quote]I enjoyed the first two doctors in the current Doctor who run. Eccleston and Tennant are my guys. I enjoyed their story lines and adventures. But the show became so convoluted and ridiculous during the Smith and Capaldi years, I gave up.

We're the exact opposite. I didn't care for the Eccleston and Tennant years (even though I love both actors). Matt Smith was by far my favorite, with Capaldi a close second (though I didn't much care for Clara).

I'm loving this new Doctor though.

by Anonymous

reply 129

10/22/2018

[quote]But the show became so convoluted and ridiculous during the Smith and Capaldi years, I gave up.

Yeah, Moffat took the show off the deep end. Finally, he's gone. There might actually be coherent plot lines now.

by Anonymous

reply 130

10/22/2018

I just found it odd that someone thought racism would persist in the era when humanity expanded throughout time and space and all of our current cultural baggage would have been forgotten, and we will have so many other species to despise.

Because yes, lots and lots of humans need a group of "others" to despise.

by Anonymous

reply 131

10/22/2018

[quote] I just found it odd that someone thought racism would persist in the era when humanity expanded throughout time and space and all of our current cultural baggage would have been forgotten, and we will have so many other species to despise.

Yeah that's what I thought.

I thought maybe he had a more complicated history than we're seeing now & we might see him again. With the "everything started changing... with HER" - it's a bit Mary! honestly. But actually, if it is true - and people in the year 5000 are thinking this - that's a big fat WTF that would be kind of interesting to explore, though I don't know that Doctor Who would want to go there.

by Anonymous

reply 132

10/22/2018

I think it's odd that we're apparently little better off NOW, racism-wise, than we were back in the 50s. Because holy shit, we have a straight white male supremacist in the White House, and all over the south, black and minority voters are being intimidated and suppressed... just like the bad old days. VERY LITTLE HAS EFFECTIVELY CHANGED it seems. The luchings continue, though instead of with a noose, they're with the bullets of KKK members with badges and guns, shooting innocent black people for no reason, just to kill black people. It's totally fucked up.

by Anonymous

reply 133

10/22/2018

[quote]The luchings continue

Pics please.

by Anonymous

reply 134

10/23/2018

What's a luching?

by Anonymous

reply 135

10/23/2018

What I don't get is why Ryan sent him back to the past. Doesn't that mean Krasko gets to live as an entitled white man? I guess it depends on when and where.

by Anonymous

reply 136

10/23/2018

[quote] I for one would love to see River come back. It should be interesting what dynamic Chibnall would create for her and a female Doctor.

But since River is going in the opposite direction, timewise, it would be a younger Alex Kingston before the character met Capaldi, Smith, and finally Tennant?

Good luck with that.

by Anonymous

reply 137

10/23/2018

Hey Sherry, what is it you're doing these days? We should catch-up, but my schedule's been quite full since that hospital drama in the states came to an end.

by Anonymous

reply 138

10/23/2018

...I cried.

by Anonymous

reply 139

10/23/2018

r137, If 13 returned to the Library and removed River from the computer, River would move forward in time.

by Anonymous

reply 140

10/23/2018

R133, when was the last time you were thrown in jail for using the white people's restroom, or when someone threatened to murder you because you touched a white woman? Seriously, get a grip, because while OF COURSE things are a hell of a long way from perfect today, you're part of the modern computer-owning classes but you're whining like you're a sharecropper in the Jim Crow South.

And R137, River and the Doctor don't always go opposite directions in time, in the middle of the Eleven years he met the young River just before she regenerated into her current form.

by Anonymous

reply 141

10/23/2018

R141 apparently miss the black kid who got the cops called on him for touching a white woman accidentally in the store.

Or, you know. the cops being called on black people BBQing in a public park, or rummaging through their car's trunk, or while canvassing for an election, or cheering their kid on at soccer, or … any of the thousand other stories we've seen over the past couple of years.

by Anonymous

reply 142

10/23/2018

And we have more spiders?

Nobody in Sheffield heard of the Empress of the Racknoss?

by Anonymous

reply 143

10/23/2018

As an aside, I am LOVING Michelle Gomez in the new Sabrina.

by Anonymous

reply 144

10/26/2018

The Afterschool Special Doctor.

by Anonymous

reply 145

10/26/2018

I really want to like series 11 but it keeps stopping me by being so bloody awful!

by Anonymous

reply 146

10/28/2018

Doctor Who's Gallifrey Would Be a Nightmarishly Awful Place to Live

by Anonymous

reply 147

10/28/2018

Another badly written episode

by Anonymous

reply 148

10/28/2018

First I'm thinking a gay man couldn't have designed the new TARDIS interior because it's so ugly. Then I see that thrusting phallus in the middle and I'm...I'm confused.

by Anonymous

reply 149

10/28/2018

I like how the BBC thought that putting all the money into CGI would pay off with Chinball writing such mediocre crap.

Chinball is no RTD or Moff and we know this by this episode.

by Anonymous

reply 150

10/28/2018

Mr. Big as Donald Trump stand-in. Sad!

by Anonymous

reply 151

10/28/2018

Long time watcher, first time commenter....so if the Doctor is going to be a woman, and they made such a huge deal about it, wouldn't the doctors character have changed, as it does with the male doctors? Cause Jodie is just playing a 11/12 hybrid, nothing new, and nothing female, Why did they bother?

by Anonymous

reply 152

10/28/2018

I don't get what you're saying R152 What specifically male traits did the previous doctors have? Other than being played by men. The big deal in this case is that the doctor is being played by a woman now, nothing else.

by Anonymous

reply 153

10/28/2018

R153 Men and women are not the same, despite what they push, we aren't, I wish she was pro guns, for one thing

by Anonymous

reply 154

10/28/2018

What's being pro guns got to do with being female?

by Anonymous

reply 155

10/28/2018

r153 Matt Smith's trait is specifically male.

by Anonymous

reply 156

10/28/2018

R155 Do you remember when Davros was shouting at 10 at the end of 'Journeys End' and truthfully states that the Doctor sets his companions up as weapons and gets them to do the killing for him? Remember? It is true and it would be cool if 14 had grown and was now, being a woman, capable of doing her own dirty work instead of making everyone else do it just so HE could say 'I don't use guns'.....cause he does by making others do the killing

R156 GO MATTHEW

by Anonymous

reply 157

10/28/2018

It was the weakest of the three episodes, but it was a strong start with the first two imho. Hopefully now that they've got the companions committed, and they're heading off-Earth, we'll get some really good stories again.

by Anonymous

reply 158

10/28/2018

R154, ugh, no. Of course The Doctor is not "pro-gun". No sane, evolved, advanced person is.

Only lizard brains are "pro-gun".

by Anonymous

reply 159

10/28/2018

The Doctor is most definitely anti-killing, so why would she be pro-gun? Recreational hunting?

by Anonymous

reply 160

10/28/2018

Haven't seen this week's yet, but I really enjoyed the Rosa Parks episode. It was refreshing to watch an episode that didn't consist of everyone either running from or chasing some alien down a corridor for 45 minutes.

by Anonymous

reply 161

10/28/2018

Jodie is not good at playing David Tennant

by Anonymous

reply 162

10/29/2018

This one (spiders) was actually my favorite of the new season. I’m warming up to the companions, especially Yaz and Graham. Are the writers hinting that Yaz has romantic feelings for the Doctor?

by Anonymous

reply 163

10/29/2018

Who wore it best?

by Anonymous

reply 164

10/31/2018

Exterminate! Fans' backlash over Doctor Who's latest transformation- into TV's most PC show

by Anonymous

reply 165

10/31/2018

R164, must be a standard alien outfit I guess.

And R165, only bigots are bothered.

by Anonymous

reply 166

10/31/2018

[quote]only bigots are bothered.

So, about 99.99999% of their fan base.

by Anonymous

reply 167

10/31/2018

The race episode was just dumb, beginning to end. We're supposed to believe those two losers were the most fierce competitors willing to fight to to the death? They wouldn't last 2 episodes of Survivor. This show so far is Sarah Jane Adventures without the cute kids.

by Anonymous

reply 168

10/31/2018

by Anonymous

reply 169

10/31/2018

[quote]This show so far is Sarah Jane Adventures without the cute kids.

or K9

by Anonymous

reply 170

10/31/2018

I thought they changed the name to 'Nurse Who' when that chick took over.

by Anonymous

reply 171

10/31/2018

I’m looking forward to the Transgender Daleks

by Anonymous

reply 172

11/01/2018

I thought they were bringing back the Racknoss, especially when they showed that map of where the spiders were making webs... it reminded me of that season1 (reboot) episode of the racknoss ship. The way they did it, with the Mr. Big / Donald Trump character was a let down. Nothing really happened to him or his hotel empire building over waste dumps or empty mines...it was just kinda dumb. They led all the spiders in the panic room with rap music? Ok...

I guess nobody else found it to be rather coincidental they had the big argument over guns and shooting the dying spider right when the Pittsburgh shooting happened. The doctor always tries to resolve things without guns, but it came up numerous times in that particular episode, and Mr. Big shot the spider for no reason - simply because he's an ass hole and had a gun in his hand.

I really liked the Rosa Parks episode, though it got some bad reviews & the IMDB scores since Jodie took over are not good. I think she's doing fine though. The episodes haven't been that great or mysterious or whatever. The Rosa one was good though - with all the things they had to ensure to make her get on the bus...and that psycho guy trying to ruin it.

by Anonymous

reply 173

11/01/2018

Omg, Punjabi DEMONS!!!

by Anonymous

reply 174

11/01/2018

Doctor Who Christmas special 'not happening this year' — moved to New Years day

by Anonymous

reply 175

11/02/2018

Episode 5 - The Tsuranga Conundrum Teaser Trailer

by Anonymous

reply 176

11/02/2018

🐼🐼 #DoctorWho

by Anonymous

reply 177

11/02/2018

'Doctor Who' Dropped Hints About a Yasmin-Doctor Relationship

by Anonymous

reply 178

11/02/2018

Doctor Who Season 11 Is Rewriting The Doctor's Time Lord Backstory

Doctor Who season 11 is rewriting the history of the Doctor, revealing a secret side to the Time Lord's life that has never been shown before. New showrunner Chris Chibnall seems to be taking a bold new approach; not only is the Doctor finally a female, but this incarnation is opening up about a past that's only ever been hinted at.

That, though, is the magic of Doctor Who. This is a show that completely reinvents itself every few years; every time the Doctor regenerates, it's an opportunity to take the series in a whole new direction. When a regeneration comes at the same time as a new showrunner, the transformation is even more distinct. Jodie Whittaker herself stands as a symbol of that, the first female Doctor who's already proved herself in just a handful of episodes.

Related: Doctor Who Isn't Killing Its Villains - Is This The Secret Season 11 Arc?

But what new elements is the latest season adding to Doctor Who? How will they change the shape of the BBC's longest-running science-fiction TV series for years to come? Here, we're going to explore some of the key changes Chris Chibnall seems to be making to the Doctor's past.

Doctor Who season 11 episode 4 "Arachnids in the UK" saw the Doctor and her friends return to Earth, and gave the socially awkward Time Lord a chance to make small talk. Suffice to say, it didn't go well; her meandering comments included a reference to space assassins, leaving Yaz's family bewildered and confused. But one single line of dialogue stood out; the Doctor's aimless chatter drifted to reminiscing about a time when she was "a sister in an aqua hospital." A "sister," of course, is a female nurse; taken at face value, this seems to suggest that there have been previous female incarnations of the Doctor. It fits well with a single line of dialogue from season 10, when Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor recalled back to his Academy days. "I think [the Master] was a man back then," he said. "I'm fairly sure that I was, too. It was a long time ago, though."

Given the Doctor came to the end of his/her regeneration cycle in the Matt Smith era, needing a fresh injection of regeneration energy from the Time Lords, this seems to cause something of a problem to continuity. Either the Doctor was just rambling, talking utter nonsense, or else the Time Lords had given the Doctor a fresh regeneration cycle once before. If that's the case, there are 13 past Doctors who've never been seen on the TV, and who predate William Hartnell's classic incarnation. What's more, at least one of them was female.

There are a couple of subtle hints in the old series that support this idea. "The Brain of Morbius" included a scene in which the Doctor engaged another Time Lord in a psychic battle; faces of his previous incarnations flashed on the screen, running back through Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton, William Hartnell - and then on, to eight other faces. It clearly implied that Hartnell's wasn't the First Doctor, after all. Meanwhile, in the Sylvester McCoy era, the Time Lord reminisced about the ancient days of Gallifrey - times surely too far in his homeworld's past for even the Doctor to remember.

by Anonymous

reply 179

11/02/2018

The same scene from "Arachnids in the UK" saw the Doctor drop another bombshell on viewers: "I used to have sisters," she rambled. There have been previous canon references to the Doctor's parents, children, and even grandchildren, but this is the first time there's ever been a reference to the idea the Doctor had sisters.

The BBC recently published a canon novel bearing the title "A Brief History of Time Lords." Written from the perspective of a disillusioned Time Lord, it revealed that the vast majority of Gallifrey's inhabitants live outside the famous bubbled cities, and explained just how a person becomes a Time Lord. It involves leaving your family behind.

"Almost the whole population lives outside the cities. Billions of native Gallifreyans in their farms and homesteads, working through the day to feed themselves - and us - until the night-time comes... The thing that every 7-year-old on Gallifrey truly dreads is turning 8. Being taken from their family and failing the selection. What will you fail to become, child? Soldier? Chancellery Guard? Time Lord?

"Or, worse, will you pass, and spend all your lifetimes inside one of those bubbles? Forget your past life, until it comes naturally for you to recoil from the outside, shut it out, forget it? Perhaps you'll only cope with your sterile existence by shutting out all that life. Or by shutting yourself in."

The Doctor, it seems, passed the selection process and became a Time Lord. Did her sisters? Or did this early incarnation of the Doctor abandon them, forget about them, focus on his or her new life at the Time Lord Academy?

At this stage, it's impossible to say for certain. All that can be confirmed is that the Doctor had sisters - and, significantly, she believes they're dead. "I used to have sisters," the Doctor observed, and it's unclear how far back she was remembering at that moment. It's believed that only Time Lords have the ability to regenerate, not all Gallifreyans. If the Doctor's sisters failed the selection process, then they may have died millennia ago - perhaps more, if the Doctor really has had multiple regeneration cycles in the past.

"Family" seems to be the central theme of Doctor Who season 11, so it's perhaps no surprise that Whittaker's 13th Doctor has spent more time reflecting on her family than any other incarnation to date. In the first episode, "The Woman Who Fell To Earth," the Doctor attempted to comfort her friends by talking about how her family are always with her. "They may be dead to the world, but they're not dead to me," she declared. It's a strange inversion of a speech given by Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor in "The Tomb of the Cybermen." There, he told a grieving companion that he had lost his family many years ago, that he could choose to remember them but that the passing of time had healed the wounds.

"I have to really want to, to bring them back in front of my eyes. The rest of the time they sleep in my mind, and I forget. And so will you. Oh yes, you will. You'll find there's so much else to think about."

Whittaker's Doctor is more empathetic and able to understand the feelings of others. As a result, she seems to recognize the value of family a lot more. She doesn't want to forget the people she's loved and lost, but rather she chooses every day to remember them and carry them in her heart. It marks her as a very different incarnation of the Doctor - but it also means viewers are getting new insight into the Time Lord's backstory.

-

While these themes and ideas are subtle, they've been carefully threaded through almost every episode so far. It looks as though they're building to a head, suggesting that perhaps the Doctor's family aren't quite as dead and buried as she believes. If that's the case, could one of the Doctor's siblings even be the "Timeless Child" alluded to in "The Ghost Monument?" Right now, only one thing is certain: this trend looks set to continue, meaning the Doctor's past - and even her family ties - are likely to be further fleshed out as Doctor Who season 11 continues.

screenrant

by Anonymous

reply 180

11/02/2018

I liked episodes one and three, and found episodes two and four to be meh. I wonder if it's going to be an "every other episode is good" thing, kinda like the original star trek movies?

by Anonymous

reply 181

11/03/2018

Is it just me or is the opening credit sequence now a flight through a woman's birth canal? And the Tardis looks like a womb. Just binge watched the last Christmas Special (Twice Upon A Time) and the new season so far. I like the new Doctor and the companions. Love how they deal with grief (Graham mourning Grace) and the production values are, like, through the roof (and they were top notch in the past). Love the guest appearance of Josh Bowman (Revenge) in "Rosa". I hope that is a twist with his character coming in later episodes.

by Anonymous

reply 182

11/03/2018

r181, I believe that has always been the case. Individual fans like certain themes and when other themes are covered they kind of tune out and like those episodes less than the ones that deal with their favorite themes. Like someone only liking episodes that deal with Daleks, Cybermen, or supernatural phenomenons (wait, what's left then?).

by Anonymous

reply 183

11/03/2018

I see potential in Jodie, but she really hasn't found her voice yet. The problem is - well, the writing is shit and the characters are way underdeveloped. She hasn't had that "Yeah, you are the Doctor" moment for me yet.

So I've not given up yet, but she's been mediocre at best.

by Anonymous

reply 184

11/03/2018

The new Doctor always needs a couple of episodes to find his, or her, voice. An adjustment period, if you will.

by Anonymous

reply 185

11/03/2018

R184, I had that "Yeah, you are the Doctor" moment in the premiere.

But the character has been explicitly stating that she's still finding herself after regeneration... in every single episode so far, in fact.

by Anonymous

reply 186

11/04/2018

I know the black General on Gallifery regenerated in a flash.

Why is the Doctor having this long post regeneration complications.

She should know who she is and who she was by now.

by Anonymous

reply 187

11/04/2018

Just saw episode 5 and I'm convinced three companions is too many. For the most part, the writers just end up farming out to three actors what could be spoken by one. They should kill off the girl, keep the guy, and leave Graham earthbound, sort of like Donna's dad. I love Graham, but he'll be more effective that way.

by Anonymous

reply 188

11/04/2018

What the fuck was that?

The Hospital Ship of the Social Justice Warrior.

I was hoping the P'ting was going to put me out of my misery.

Chinball is an asshole.

by Anonymous

reply 189

11/04/2018

The Doctor is fine. I like her. Love the look of the show and the acting. But the writing lacks excitement. Plots are too much by the book. Obviously Chibnal is not going for character driven scripts. But he doesn't seem to spend much energy on plots either. Oh well, it's not a total turn off so far, but it needs more than this to get me excited.

Question: Given the fact that time lords can be of either gender, how does having three sisters make sense?

by Anonymous

reply 190

11/04/2018

r190, isn't it alluded to that the sisters were not chosen to be Time Lords?

by Anonymous

reply 191

11/04/2018

Why couldn't they have used that set as the new TARDIS? It already had the central cockpit and everything.

The Doctor likes Hamilton. Ugh. I should have known. S/he's a fan of exposition.

by Anonymous

reply 192

11/04/2018

Chinball is a fan of exposition. He is breathless with it.

by Anonymous

reply 193

11/05/2018

Doctor Who series 11: where are the real villains?

Series 11 might be filled with monsters and mutant spiders, but where are the villains that show us who the Doctor really is?

by Anonymous

reply 194

11/06/2018

Where is the Sci-FI?

by Anonymous

reply 195

11/06/2018

R195, Doctor Who has never been "Sci-Fi". It's always been "Sci-Fantasy".

by Anonymous

reply 196

11/06/2018

I loved this show and never missed an episode. Now I struggle to sit through this drivel. Where is the fun? Seriously, it feels like all the fun has been sucked out of this show - it's so bland and sterile. The writing has been awful - Chibnal clearly has no clue how to write engaging sci-fi stories. Also not a fan of Jodie as a Doctor - sure she doesn't have a lot to work with because of the woeful writing, but she looks completely lost and out of her depth most of the times. She just doesn't have natural charisma. It's not really her fault, but it's a reality. Charismatic actors capture audience's attention as soon as they are no the screen, they command attention. Unfortunately Jodie just doesn't have any charisma at all. She feels just as bland as the show and her interpretation of the character seems unoriginal and boring. Also I wish they didn't go the many companions route - it doesn't work. It takes screentime away from the Doctor and from the story. It works best with one companion, sometimes it works with 2 companions, but more than that and it's just a mess.

by Anonymous

reply 197

11/06/2018

r197, but Original Whoists will scream that that is how the Doctor started.

The Original Doctor Who Field Trips.

by Anonymous

reply 198

11/06/2018

last episode was pure trash 1/10

by Anonymous

reply 199

11/07/2018

I thought this episode was the most entertaining one since the season premiere. I liked the P’ting creature anyway.

But Chibnall really needs to step up his game. This doesn’t completely surprise me as the Matt Smith episodes he penned from Season 7 were not very good (Dinosaurs On A Ship, The Power Of Three). I also thought Broadchurch was highly overrated.

I don’t mind multiple Companions - Amy/Rory are still my favorites- but the current ones are severely underwritten.

by Anonymous

reply 200

11/10/2018

This is what many viewers feared, outside the gender change, that Chibnall simply was not going to step up like Moffatt or Davies as a writer/showrunner.

by Anonymous

reply 201

11/10/2018

Season one of Broadchurh was great season two was awful and third was OK

by Anonymous

reply 202

11/10/2018

r200 Rory didn't feel like a third wheel because he was given an incredible story as the man who waited. And Arthur Darvill was adorable.

by Anonymous

reply 203

11/10/2018

I think Peter Harness or Toby Whithouse would have been great as showrunner definitely so much better than Chibnall!

by Anonymous

reply 204

11/10/2018

Smith, Gillan and Darvill also had great chemistry. All three played off one another so well.

by Anonymous

reply 205

11/10/2018

When the show started it wasn’t about The Doctor R197

It was Barbara and Ian’s story. The Doctor was mysterious and unknowable and could be a real jerk. They were seeing the incredible wonders and we saw it with and through them. We saw The Doctor mellow and move towards Becoming THE DOCTOR as we know him/her now.

I think the show is the best when it is the companions story. It worked in 1963 and it worked in 2005 when Series One was Rose’s story and The Doctor was again mysterious.

Later Doctors became THE focus and with focus pulling Doctors single companions work better. Tom Baker doesn’t need more than one companion.

I guess we’ll have to see if Whittaker becomes a Baker or a Davison.

by Anonymous

reply 206

11/10/2018

Jodie has failed to convince so far - lacks gravitas and her performance basically comes across as an unconvincing David Tennant impression with a northern accent She has failed to make the part her own, but the lion’s share of the blame for that is with Chibnall and his awful scripts

by Anonymous

reply 207

11/10/2018

Doctor Who: 9 Big Questions After Season 11 Episode 5

by Anonymous

reply 208

11/10/2018

R201, do not mention RTD and Chinball in the same sentence.

It is all about the writing.

It is a Chinball weakness.

by Anonymous

reply 209

11/10/2018

I wish Chris Clough has become the show runner.

He worked on classic Who and he has produced some excellent modern era TV series

by Anonymous

reply 210

11/10/2018

So, what great watching do we have in store for tomorrow?

by Anonymous

reply 211

11/10/2018

Omg, Punjabi DEMONS!!!

by Anonymous

reply 212

11/10/2018

Tonight's episode is pretty good actually. And again, it seems to be echoing back to Doctor Who's origins as an educational program, teaching as well as entertaining. How many people watching (at least in the U.S.) have no clue about the India/Pakistan partition and its consequences? The echoes of that even still ripple through today.

Of course, I notice that Chinball didn't write this episode.

by Anonymous

reply 213

11/11/2018

Chris Chibnall has BORING villains. First faces with lots of teeth, now faces with lots of eyes. Where are The Silence? The Weeping Angels? Heck, I'll take the Slitheens. Or just bring back the fucking Daleks.

by Anonymous

reply 214

11/11/2018

The villain in the premiere with the teeth in his face was great.

And tonight's aliens (spoiler alert) weren't villains.

And Chibnall didn't write this episode.

by Anonymous

reply 215

11/11/2018

[quote]And tonight's aliens (spoiler alert) weren't villains.

You're right. I spoke inaccurately.

[quote]And Chibnall didn't write this episode.

I was referring to Chibnall as showrunner.

by Anonymous

reply 216

11/11/2018

One of my friends wrote this episode! I'm glad Chibbers is outsourcing because I've not enjoyed his episodes at all.

by Anonymous

reply 217

11/11/2018

I find that one just has to suspend disbelief (more than usual) to enjoy these timeline-interference episodes, just like that one with Rose's dad. It seems almost unfair to call the better ones the better ones, since the others are so bad. But I guess this is one of the better ones.

So the next episode is Doctor Who's commentary on Amazon?

by Anonymous

reply 218

11/11/2018

Tonights show was the best one since the premiere .I got a little misty eyed at the end.

by Anonymous

reply 219

11/11/2018

Ditto, R219. So far, there have been three good episodes... The premiere, the Rosa Parks episode, and this one. The others were utterly forgettable.

by Anonymous

reply 220

11/12/2018

r220, agreed.

by Anonymous

reply 221

11/12/2018

I’ve seen Jodie Whitaker in other roles and she is a good actress. In Dr Who however she seems utterly adrift. She appears to be struggling badly with her take on the role. Sadly I’m beginning to see something which seemed relatively daring and interesting in choosing a female Doctor, simply becoming an example of BBC diversity because they felt they had to do so.

Crucially the viewing figures have dropped sharply since the opening episode which is bad news for Whitaker and Chibnall.

by Anonymous

reply 222

11/12/2018

r222 The Black Mirror episode with Jodie and Toby Kebbell was intense, probably one of the best.

by Anonymous

reply 223

11/12/2018

The Doctor Who role is quite a challenge in itself for male actors. Being the first woman to do it? A million times more pressure on you. I like her kind of frazzled and distracted rumblings. A doctor who knows what he's doing from the start and just stands back and observes with a kind of snotty, superior attitude is the ultimate boring Doctor. So far I am loving the new season. Probably the previous one (on that emergeny hospital spaceship) was my least favorite episode and even that gave us a guy being overly dramatic while giving birth to a baby.

by Anonymous

reply 224

11/12/2018

We are now half way through the series. I hated Capaldi till Missy showed up.

by Anonymous

reply 225

11/12/2018

That's a good point. I didn't like Capaldi at first. But by the end of his run, he was up there with Matt Smith for me. He was kicking ass. But it was a rough start.

by Anonymous

reply 226

11/12/2018

What's fucked up is that the Aliens mourned a guy who got shot while his brother is around. His own brother didn't mourn him (or else the Aliens would not have shown up).

by Anonymous

reply 227

11/13/2018

So, anyone excited about tonight's Cinball fest?

by Anonymous

reply 228

11/18/2018

The guy who plays the maintance guy, Charlie, is cute.

by Anonymous

reply 229

11/18/2018

Well, they made the fez tassel cannon for 13.

by Anonymous

reply 230

11/18/2018

So it was Charlie in Maintenance who was the monster?

Fuck me , Mary...

by Anonymous

reply 231

11/18/2018

Charlie reminds me of Tim O’Tay.

by Anonymous

reply 232

11/18/2018

Spoiler Alert:

I thought it was kind of hilarious that Charlie turned out to be some crazy Millennial terrorist fighting for the 90% (bigger human employment rates). I mean he had a point, but went about it in a totally wrong way (killing all these nice employees to test his bombs and then intend to kill customers to destroy the general population's confidence and trust in AIs and robots as workforce?).

by Anonymous

reply 233

11/19/2018

Did Chinball turn The Doctor into a simple Social Justice Warrior?

Besides, announcing that she knew Agatha Christie and then having the janitor do it, was silly.

It was boring.

by Anonymous

reply 234

11/19/2018

Series is suffering under Chibnall?

Read he may ditch after one more (shortened) series. Despite improved ratings things are not going well.

by Anonymous

reply 235

11/19/2018

[quote] The guy who plays the maintance guy, Charlie, is cute.

Yes, but he smells funny down there.

by Anonymous

reply 236

11/19/2018

The colors on DW are so muted I did not even realize he was a redhead.

More about Chibnall potentially bailing, please! Come back, RTD!!!!

by Anonymous

reply 237

11/19/2018

And the opening sequence sounds like a Pepto-Bismol commercial.

by Anonymous

reply 238

11/19/2018

Yeah, the quality of writing is certainly a problem. And I agree that The Doctor and the companions are all under-written, maybe also under performing. Especially Yaz and Ryan seem to be sleep walking at times. I suppose direction restraints the acting for the human, so the Doctor can act more alien. But so far the writing and the acting has not figured out what makes these four special. Having more companions means you aren't focused on any. Graham seems to stand out a little bit which I attribute to the skills of a seasoned actor. He knows how to utilize his short screen time even if he doesn't get many words.

by Anonymous

reply 239

11/19/2018

When I hear the new theme I ask myself "Is Dubstep still a thing?".

by Anonymous

reply 240

11/19/2018

Doctor Who stories were always glorified After School Specials in Space. Either that or time travel fuck ups made right this time around.

by Anonymous

reply 241

11/19/2018

I swear to god half the time I can't understand a word Ryan says... the actor's accent is not only thick, he MUMBLES.

by Anonymous

reply 242

11/19/2018

I really want to like this new incarnation of DW, and I do like Jodie as the Doctor, I think she can potentially make it great. But I do agree that it's been a little underwhelming and dull this season. Most of the episodes I've barely been paying attention, and the new companions just aren't doing it for me at all. Also, Ive watched a lot of British TV in my day, but is it me or is everyone on this season speaking with such thick mumbly accents that it's almost impossible to understand what they're saying?

by Anonymous

reply 243

11/19/2018

I got a couple news bits from my Google news feed today where lots of outlets muse about Chibnall and Whittaker leaving both after a shortened 2019 season. Chibnall is supposedly unhappy with the collaboration with the BBC. And that's pretty much all they have for a rumor. They only include Whittaker because apparently an actor cannot stay if a showrunner leaves. No other reason why she would leave.

by Anonymous

reply 244

11/20/2018

She will get her three season/series.

It may take till Season 12 before she comes into her own.

But I do hope these stand alone episodes go away.

by Anonymous

reply 245

11/21/2018

I agree. Both RTD and Moffitt had an overall story arc for each season, so there was suspense built up with each episode. Though in the case of Moffitt, it was often muddled and nonsensical.

by Anonymous

reply 246

11/21/2018

[quote] I agree. Both RTD and Moffitt had an overall story arc for each season, so there was suspense built up with each episode.

Yeah, I kind miss these mystery story arcs. I mean the only thing we get this season is the drama tension between Graham and Ryan and whether they will work it out between each other or not.

by Anonymous

reply 247

11/21/2018

And does anyone really care if they do? I don't care about any of these companions the way I cared about Rose, Donna, Amy and even basic Clara won me over eventually

by Anonymous

reply 248

11/21/2018

They need to start connecting this Doctor to canon. The TARDIS has been downgraded to a Galliferyan Uber. The Sonic is rubbish. She needs to change clothes. Not one of the companions can inspire a tear like Wilfred Mott. Crappy plots with shallow character development. They went all multicultural with black, white, south asisn. I could handle this in the Sara Jane Adventures a decade ago but now?

This Doctor needs to hook up with Luke Smith as a companion.

by Anonymous

reply 249

11/21/2018

I don't mind the multicultural diversity at all. Demons of the Punjab was great because of the personal connection to the historic event thanks to Yasmin. That particular story would have fallen flat with an all-white leading cast (Doctor and companion, or companions).

by Anonymous

reply 250

11/21/2018

I thought that the mystery story arcs in the RTD era worked very well. They usually came in very small doses (a Bad Wolfe notion here and there), just enough to make you wonder and hook you up. The Moffat story lines were usually so convoluted that I eventually lost interest to get them resolved. There were just so many loose ends that I couldn't possibly pick up anymore on my own. A mystery is working well if it is engaging. If it is overwhelming people check out. I still remember how shocked I was in the Donna Noble season opener, when Rose appeared in a cameo. That cameo was such an awesome WTF moment. These moments can be overdone easily. But that one I didn't see coming at all and it was so short, really just a split second. If there was rumors about her joining the show again, I didn't read it. So it was a big shock and enough to make me guessing all season.

by Anonymous

reply 251

11/21/2018

About the lack of character depth: I wonder if that is a deliberate choice rather than ineptitude. The show really took a while to introduce the essentials. I mean, even introducing the new title sequence or the Tardis was delayed to later episodes. They stretched everything into length to keep people guessing. It was a little gratuitous really. But delaying character development and at the same time delivering less than engaging plots sounds dumb if it is deliberate.

by Anonymous

reply 252

11/21/2018

I really really REALLY hate the new Tardis design.

by Anonymous

reply 253

11/21/2018

Miss me, bitches?

by Anonymous

reply 254

11/21/2018

Gomez is great on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I doubt she would have been able to do both (CAoS and Doctor Who) at the same time.

by Anonymous

reply 255

11/21/2018

Killer bubble wrap. That was brilliant.

by Anonymous

reply 256

11/24/2018

KerBlam!

by Anonymous

reply 257

11/24/2018

Not even Sylvester McCoy failed so badly as the Doctor. And he killed the franchise for a generation.

by Anonymous

reply 258

11/24/2018

He did not.

Micheal Grade killed the franchise because he didn’t like it and admittedly didn’t “get it”.

The show was on an uptick with the last of Sylvester.

by Anonymous

reply 259

11/25/2018

I'm not seeing "failing" right now. I am seeing opportunities but whatever isn't working right now is not bad enough that it couldn't be adjusted. It starts with the BBC though. They need to make a decision whether they want a children's program or also appeal to most adults.

R262, with a comment like this you just sound like a jackass. Care to elaborate your comment to something that has substance?

by Anonymous

reply 263

11/25/2018

Dear r263, it is currently paused at 17:33. I started watching it and was intrigued by Siobhan Finneran. That is until she presented as a flat plot device. I thought the dunking stool was a bit severe for the Doctor to prove that interventions are doomed. And the only interesting thing about James I and VI was his homosexual undertones focusing on the the black man. Interesting that costuming chose a black death doctor's mask for his disguise.

I enjoyed the root tentacles beast but the whole episode seems flat and insipid.

I really want to like 13 but she lacks brilliance and charm. It is a direct result of the bad, very bad, writing.

Plus I hate that the TARDIS is not seen up front. The sound of the TARDIS announces that the Doctor has arrived.

Chinball has gone out of his way to make 13 as dull as dishwater.

I would have thought that Sexy would have replaced the ugly sonic by now.

This is the first episode in 11 seasons that I do not know if I will finish.

Should I care r263?

by Anonymous

reply 264

11/25/2018

[quote] The sound of the TARDIS announces that the Doctor has arrived.

Only because he left the brakes on.

by Anonymous

reply 265

11/25/2018

r265, we know that, and so does he after River told him, but it appears that he too likes the sound.

by Anonymous

reply 266

11/25/2018

Wow, random alien interactions AGAIN!

by Anonymous

reply 267

11/25/2018

The girl companion makeover is laughable.

I can't even be bothered to learn their names. This is not good.

by Anonymous

reply 268

11/26/2018

The series is turfing out. It got a bump with the female Doctor curiosity factor but the mediocrity of the writing (esp in the first few episodes) has taken a toll.

I wouldn't be surprised if the rumors of behind-the-scenes tension between the BBC and Chibnall are true.

by Anonymous

reply 269

11/26/2018

Regarding The Witchfinders. Did I miss a scene that explained why the Doctor and her companions were not in period appropriate clothing?

by Anonymous

reply 270

11/26/2018

The TARDIS creates the illusion of location appropriate clothing for the indigenous people visited. No matter what the planet.

Same with the language translator.

by Anonymous

reply 271

11/26/2018

R271. Wrong. Even James I commented on their strange outfits and asked if they were actors. It’s always basically ignored these days.

by Anonymous

reply 272

11/26/2018

I was so looking forward to a female Dr. Who. She's actually pretty good. But this is the year of a new show runner, who stupidly decided to write the scripts as well. And they're terrible. Like after-school specials. Such a shame. But maybe the show had to end. It's been on as long as a Time Lord lives.

by Anonymous

reply 273

11/26/2018

The Doctor and the companions didn't dress up in "Rosa" either. Bit of a pity imho.

by Anonymous

reply 274

11/26/2018

r274 It now occurs to me why the hot villain in Rosa was dressed like the Fonz.

by Anonymous

reply 275

11/26/2018

Oh, dear. Let me rephrase that. It now occurs to me: why was the hot villain in Rosa dressed like the Fonz?

by Anonymous

reply 276

11/26/2018

Legends of Tomorrow > last 4 years of Who.

by Anonymous

reply 277

11/26/2018

I was called out for putting this in the wrong thread, so.....

Right wing Doctor Who haters are lying - series is far from failing with Jodie Whittaker

It’s turned into a ratings disaster for the BBC, an absolute catastrophe.

This is the agenda being pushed and the lies being peddled by right-wing, pro-Brexit newspapers.

The Big Lie, invented by Hitler, perfected by Goebbels and practised with dismaying success by Trump on his obliging base, is an ingeniously simple concept. Tell an outrageous lie often enough and soon people will begin to accept it as fact.

Well, don’t accept it. Doctor Who is doing just fine without a penis.

And only a pro-brexit nazi would disagree.

by Anonymous

reply 278

11/26/2018

r278, that was such a SJW reply that you aught to be a writer for this series.

by Anonymous

reply 279

11/26/2018

* ought.

by Anonymous

reply 280

11/26/2018

Thanks r280. I ought to have spelt it correctly.

by Anonymous

reply 281

11/26/2018

[quote]We saw The Doctor mellow and move towards Becoming THE DOCTOR as we know him/her now.

I'd argue, although softly, that the Doctor is constantly becoming "The Doctor" every regeneration. It would be boring if he was this all knowing, all powerful, perfect being who always had the answers exactly when he needed to.

We moved from having a companion who learned from him and enriched her life in Rose to having companions who could stand on their own and contribute like Martha (a doctor in her own right) and even Donna (compassion). We lost that with Amy and Clara but with Bill they at least had someone who had a knack for pointing out basic things that the Doctor missed while also openly asking questions about the world around her.

[quote]I think the show is the best when it is the companions story. It worked in 1963 and it worked in 2005 when Series One was Rose’s story and The Doctor was again mysterious.

Completely agree.

[quote]Later Doctors became THE focus and with focus pulling Doctors single companions work better. Tom Baker doesn’t need more than one companion.

I like having multiple companions. I'm just not sure I like having [bold]these[/bold] multiple companions. I feel like they should each bring something different to the table and right now they all just sort of blend together. Even when Rose/Mickey were traveling together they were vastly different. You could have a Donna/Martha cross over and they were completely their own people. You could have an adventure where Jack tagged along and he would never blend into the background even if there were two other companions around, neither of whom, would be underutilized. That's something I loved about Moffat's companions.

I also loved the fact that he managed to build an entire world where you knew Donna was off somewhere going on about her life, Martha and Mickey were traveling around hunting aliens, Sarah Jane was writing and and Jack was dealing with Torchwood business. That's been gone for a long time.

It makes me sad we'll likely never have something like this group again.

by Anonymous

reply 282

11/26/2018

R282 I think you mean RTD not Moffatt. All the companion you mentioned liking were RTD’s creation.

by Anonymous

reply 283

11/27/2018

David Tennant, Catherine Tate and John Barrowman put the Russell Davies years in context. We shall not see their like again. Nobody will ever do this for Chris Chibnall

by Anonymous

reply 284

11/27/2018

[quote] I think you mean RTD not Moffatt. All the companion you mentioned liking were RTD’s creation.

Sorry, RTD. I was juggling too many balls.

I was trying to focus on the changes from Davies' companions to Moffat's companions and now Chibnall's or rather their roles. I just got my names confused in one paragraph but I mentioned them all.

I loved the way Davies handled things. I think Moffat got a grip on it at the end. I think Chibnall is having some issues after dumping three on us at once. I think he would have been better off choosing someone like Yasmin, building her up for a few episodes and then bringing in Ryan and Graham because I don't think he's doing a good job handling the trio at the moment. As someone else mentioned, even just now, I had to look up their names.

by Anonymous

reply 285

11/27/2018

R285 If after a handful of episodes you still don't know the names of three main characters then you either didn't watch them properly or you have a degenerative brain condition.

by Anonymous

reply 286

11/27/2018

R286, I'm not the only person that has said that and my brain is doing just fine! Thank you for your concern, luv!

by Anonymous

reply 287

11/27/2018

Ratings have declined. Apparently the objection is not directed at Whitaker, but at the preachy story lines.

by Anonymous

reply 288

11/27/2018

I loved Doctor Who in the past but I too cannot remember the companions names and the story lines ARE incredibly preachy. I watch it for fun not to have holier than thou social commentary rammed down my throat. The writing is poor this season.

by Anonymous

reply 289

11/27/2018

Ratings are actually higher than the last couple of years...so far all the episodes have been in the top 10 for the week, but I do agree the story lines have been weaker this season.. the lack of actual monsters/threats isn't helping.

by Anonymous

reply 290

11/27/2018

I wish those bigots whining about "PC" and "SJW" preachy story lines would just fuck off and stop watching the show. The show (or any show for that matter) will not change their bigoted minds anyway.

by Anonymous

reply 291

11/27/2018

I wish those intellectually challenged assholes like r219 would just fuck off and stop assuming others are bigots because they don’t like the preachy, boring as fuck poor writing on a TV show.

by Anonymous

reply 292

11/27/2018

What did I do???

- r219

by Anonymous

reply 293

11/27/2018

You had the misfortune of have all of 291s digits, just in the wrong order.

I've been avoiding this thread until I got caught up on the episodes. Which I was not eager to do, because I had stopped watching Who during Capaldi's tenure because the show had crawled too far up its own ass. It was just all too pompous and precious for me.

So I'm very happy with the vision and tone of the new creative team. I like that the focus is on telling fun stories about interesting but imperfect and relatable characters, and not writers trying to show off how clever they are...or aren't. Featuring more historical stories and less space opera is a nice change of pace. The cinematography is great and adds to the (relative) realism. The TARDIS team are all appealing and, at a minimum, competent actors. There is lots to like.

However the scripts have been very hit or miss. Rosa was quite good. The Kerblam episode made no damn sense. They really need to tighten things up. Also there is an unfortunate tendency to go too far in the opposite direction from Lonely God/Timelord Victorious, and have The Doctor be almost ineffectual. Don't get me wrong, I like the Doctor not having all the answers, and actually being in peril. But in the Witchfinders ep for instance, it felt like she was wandering around with no plan or even theory, just nattering away and waiting for the next plot point to materialize.

I feel like the creative team has some nervousness about creating the first female Doctor that is coming through in the scripts and the direction. How many times have they made the Doctor deliver a variation on "Don't quite know who I am yet" or "Still getting used to flying the TARDIS?" Too many times, for my money. And as for the direction, I think shrewder directors would push Whittaker to really make the character her own instead of being so reminiscent of Tennant and Smith. I think she's a good actress but she doesn't have Tennant's charisma or Smith's slyness, nor their flair for unleashing manic energy, and she is going to look second rate if she doesn't play to her strengths. Of course this brings us back to the scripts.

I like the idea of three companions, but it is tough to make it work in a series of one hour stand-alones. It worked better on old Who because they had more time to fill.

Sorry for the long post. None of my friends watch Who so I have no one to discuss the show with.

by Anonymous

reply 297

11/27/2018

r291, the problem with the show being preachy has nothing to do with being bigot or rejecting the stories' message, imo. When people say that the episodes are too preachy, it usually means that the message is too obvious and force fed down your throat. Nobody minds a good message from an episode. I'm pretty sure everybody wants to learn something, either about a character or about morals and ethics or history or whatever. But if it comes down on you with a sledge hammer, it is not challenging and rather boring. And worse, when you realize you are being educated and not just entertained, you get the feeling that the writers are looking down on you, that they are condescending. You may even feel manipulated. A piece of art should try to avoid that impression in my opinion.

by Anonymous

reply 298

11/27/2018

[quote] it usually means that the message is too obvious and force fed down your throat.

I don't know any liberal minded person who would consider Doctor Who a show that pushes something down your throat. I have only come across bigots who use that phrase like in "gays pushing their depraved lifestyle down my throat".

by Anonymous

reply 299

11/28/2018

[quote] A piece of art should try to avoid that impression in my opinion.

It's a bloody family entertainment program. Piece of art? To quote British People: (Piece of art?) Fuck off, you wanker!

by Anonymous

reply 300

11/28/2018

Then you don’t know many liberal minded people r299. Nobody likes to be scolded and lectured no matter how worthy the message.

by Anonymous

reply 301

11/28/2018

In theory I am not averse to having things shoved down my throat.

by Anonymous

reply 302

11/28/2018

Sonic SCREWdriver at the ready!

R301, maybe you could try making some specific points instead of sweeping pronouncements.

by Anonymous

reply 303

11/28/2018

Where are the instances where Liberals are being lectured in a dismissive manner? All I see is preaching to the choir kind of liberal messages.

by Anonymous

reply 304

11/28/2018

I would think that liberal messages are directed at non-liberals.

And a piece of art does not require to be a high-value, or highly regarded in any way.

by Anonymous

reply 305

11/28/2018

Cumming chewed scenery amusingly as King George.

Interesting aliens.

Jodi's so bouncy! There's a complete loss of ennui and sadness to The Doctor. Are they using her memory problems as an excuse?

Also, no season arc or running nemesis.

by Anonymous

reply 306

11/28/2018

James ahem,,,

by Anonymous

reply 307

11/28/2018

King James wanted Ryan’s big black cock!

by Anonymous

reply 308

11/28/2018

I didn't think the Partition episode or the Rosa episode were preachy. Some people are so hypersensitive about anything "PC" that they'll scream the word at anything even remotely connected to ethics, social or moral issues.

by Anonymous

reply 309

11/28/2018

Partition episode? What episode have I already forgotten about?

by Anonymous

reply 310

11/28/2018

r310 The partition of India.

by Anonymous

reply 311

11/28/2018

Ah, Gramma's watch episode.

by Anonymous

reply 312

11/28/2018

It's simply a different universe--I loved David Tennant, Matt Smith, and even enjoyed Peter Capaldi, but at the moment I feel adrift, in that the writing/plot(s) are just not up to the previous standard, and along with others, I truly detest obvious "preaching". With the guys, it was always fun, sometimes convoluted, but usually there was some common thread in each episode, whether with the companions, who were adorable, or the monsters--where are the daleks, for instance? Then there were very thought-provoking monsters, such as the weeping angels, who made one shudder the first time they came on scene.

Even with excellent production values in season 11, there's no center, nothing to make one care, or wonder, etc. Jody is doing the best with what she has, but I think the whole thing should be completely re-booted, have one, or at the most two companions, and just perhaps (I can hear the gasps now) re-introduce one of the guys, and then GRADUALLY blend in Jody--could be any explanation, as there have been more off-the-wall things that happened previously. And please God, fire the current writer & attempt a rescue with some of the veterans that made the show a pleasure to experience!

by Anonymous

reply 313

12/01/2018

When did preaching to the choir become condescending? When bigots came up with the PC insult? Are we supposed to feel shame about liberal message branding in the entertainment media now? Or are we supposed to only accept some sort of higher standard decided by who exactly, anonymous posters on message boards like Datalounge?

Whenever I watch shows like Doctor Who I say "Amen to that!" to these liberal preaches. I never feel talked down to by any of these things.

by Anonymous

reply 314

12/02/2018

I thought that was answered upthread already. The message is not condescending; it's the way the message is delivered.

by Anonymous

reply 315

12/02/2018

And that delivery is so offensive that, what, people become immediately Deplorables, is that it?

by Anonymous

reply 316

12/02/2018

I thought that Peter's first series was weak until Missy showed up.

We only have two more episodes and then another year of waiting?

by Anonymous

reply 317

12/02/2018

Peter's first season was about the Doctor being an angry old man shouting "stop being so age-o-phobic!" to the audience. In the second season he was introduced playing an electric guitar like a rock star. He was cool again.

by Anonymous

reply 318

12/02/2018

r316, I'm losing you. What poster says people become deplorables again? Who are you trying to prove or reject? Right now I am getting the sense that you try to reject a claim that nobody makes.

by Anonymous

reply 319

12/02/2018

What episode is today?

The one after the witches .

by Anonymous

reply 320

12/02/2018

If it’s like Moffitt’s other shows, “Dracula” will be good in its first two seasons. By the third season the plots will have become overly complicated and nonsensical.

by Anonymous

reply 321

12/02/2018

But it is not a Moffat or RTD show. It is a Chinball show now and it is not very entertaining.

by Anonymous

reply 322

12/02/2018

Sorry, I was talking about Moffitt’s new Dracula show.

by Anonymous

reply 323

12/02/2018

Don’t worry R323, R322 is just a dolt with poor literacy skills.

by Anonymous

reply 324

12/02/2018

This season isn't doing it for me at all, and I think we've had enough time to realize it's not going to improve until they get rid of Chibnall. Maybe he'll quit.

by Anonymous

reply 325

12/02/2018

Last night's episode wasn't written by Chibnall.

by Anonymous

reply 326

12/03/2018

I liked the season premiere but absolutely hated episode two. I've since watched episode 4 and didn't find it that interesting so I've dropped the show. I'm obviously missing a lot about Jodie Whittaker's Doctor but based on what I've seen I'm not missing anything I really need in my entertainment. The show is like a violent kids' show.

by Anonymous

reply 327

12/03/2018

A nice episode. Energy exiled so the universe could function.

by Anonymous

reply 328

12/03/2018

[quote] [R316], I'm losing you.

And I hope you stay lost and ignorant since you are so good at it.

by Anonymous

reply 329

12/03/2018

[quote] it's not going to improve until they get rid of Chibnall. Maybe he'll quit.

The word going around is he and Jodie will both exit after the end of the next season.

by Anonymous

reply 330

12/03/2018

One can hope, R330.

by Anonymous

reply 331

12/03/2018

I thought the latest episode was a mess and a chore to get through. More misses than hits this season for me, and they are still writing the Doctor as too diffident. Is it really so hard to write her as clearly smart but not overbearing?

I did like the idea of the solotract. (sp?) Like Solaris writ large...or the complete opposite of the sophons in Three Body Problem.

by Anonymous

reply 332

12/03/2018

I wish the blind Norwegian girl had died. She was fucking annoying.

by Anonymous

reply 333

12/03/2018

I liked the concept of this last episode more than the actual execution. It had the potential to be as good as “The Girl Who Waited” from season 6 which was one of the most moving episodes of DW ever; however this one left me cold. This was a great opportunity to showcase the character of Graham and the actor playing him...instead, his reunion with Grace (even though she turned out to be a fake) was curiously unmoving. I kind of wish he had stayed behind in the mirror universe so there would be one less character to feel indifferent about!

by Anonymous

reply 334

12/03/2018

I just realized what I don't like about the new Doctor. She always sounds like she's lecturing people. She cranes her neck forward, bugs her eyes out, and over-enunciates. (And even then I can barely make out her accent.) Couple this with poorly fleshed out companions and this is what you get, a mostly boring and even mildly annoying series.

by Anonymous

reply 335

12/04/2018

[quote] She always sounds like she's lecturing

And why not. She is the After-School Special Doctor.

by Anonymous

reply 336

12/04/2018

The only thing I am missing is the season's overall plot that leads to a great season's finale. The rest is pretty great imho.

by Anonymous

reply 337

12/05/2018

Gave up watching, she is like a 11 mixed with ten, zero identity of her own, polemic writing with zero sophistication, over stuffed tardis, with shit companions, just shiity crap

by Anonymous

reply 338

12/05/2018

I am so disappointed in this show. I was really looking forward to a female Dr. Who -- and she's really good. But the scripts have been abysmal. They changed show runners and got all new writers, and they're just not as talented as the previous ones. Each show is slower, duller, and dumber than the last.

Even more unsettling, the companions have always been wonderful -- with their own story arcs and complete lives. These three hangers on are all just empty -- nothing against them, but we really know nothing about any of them outside of sketchy details, and worse, no one cares. They're really just three plot devices.

Maybe the show has gone on too long for anything original but still, something even mediocre would be good. These writers can't even manage that.

by Anonymous

reply 339

12/05/2018

Keep Jodie and get RTD back.

by Anonymous

reply 340

12/05/2018

Keep Jodie, get rid of Ryan/Graham and get RTD back.

by Anonymous

reply 341

12/05/2018

Graham is being given much more difficult material than the actor can handle. The "I don't want to be a part of this" part of Rosa Parks made him sound like he just wanted to get off so he could have a sandwich, instead of agonizing over the choice between helping to oppress someone of the same colour as his wife and grandson and moving history forward. The Solitract episode (dumb name, sounds like a toothbrush) was worse. That was like if they had drama class for GED.

by Anonymous

reply 342

12/05/2018

Bring back Romana

by Anonymous

reply 343

12/05/2018

^^ I didn't say that right. It's by oppressing a black woman that he was moving history forward, so it wasn't a choice between those two things.

by Anonymous

reply 344

12/05/2018

[quote] Bring back Romana

WHICH Romana ?

I certainly know which one I'd choose

by Anonymous

reply 345

12/05/2018

Cheap-ass cave set so we can have an space between universes with an unexplained balloon lamp trader dude and flesh-eating moths and a frog universe. I really hate this show now.

by Anonymous

reply 346

12/05/2018

And the jazz hands the alt-people made to throw real people back into the crawlspace, ha ha. And then they made the fucking frog do it, ha ha!

I hated Björk Lite. (Yes, I'm aware that Björk is not Norwegian.) Her cuntitude was inexplicable and unwarranted.

by Anonymous

reply 347

12/05/2018

The more I think about it, the more disappointed I am -- how could a show get so bad so fast. The relationship between the last Who and Clara was so lovely, and well-drawn -- Clara was as important a character as the Dr. These three tag-alongs are empty line-deliverers. That's all. And these plots are so vapid.

As someone might say, SAD!

by Anonymous

reply 348

12/05/2018

Yeah the actor playing Graham brought zero nuance to this last episode, and his character was a huge part of the plot.

by Anonymous

reply 349

12/05/2018

Oh, yeah, why was Grace Frog sitting in a chair?

And wasn't the Doctor dishonest on several occasions? Telling crawlspace reptile that she would give him the sonic if he led them to Erik (we know there's no way she would), telling Grace Frog she was the most beautiful thing ever (she knows that's not true, we know that's not true, we know she knows that's not true), and one more I can't remember.

I hate hating Doctor Who.

by Anonymous

reply 350

12/05/2018

Put a fork in it

by Anonymous

reply 351

12/06/2018

I hope Chinball learns from this series, moves on and they bring someone on who can actually use Jodie's talents.

by Anonymous

reply 352

12/07/2018

Chinball blinked. Daleks will be on the New Year's special after all. He had earlier declared they wouldn't be using the "old monsters".

Of course I suppose the Daleks will be woke this time around.

by Anonymous

reply 353

12/07/2018

[quote]Chinball blinked.

Oh good. I hope the weeping angels get him.

by Anonymous

reply 354

12/08/2018

WW for R354

by Anonymous

reply 355

12/08/2018

BTW, what kind of fuckery that they broke the tradition of the Christmas special. New Years Special my ass.

by Anonymous

reply 356

12/08/2018

Just watched the Norway Frog episode. A convoluted plot about people nobody cares about.

One more episode of this torture.

by Anonymous

reply 357

12/08/2018

[quote] what kind of fuckery that they broke the tradition of the Christmas special

Christ-mass isn't woke.

by Anonymous

reply 358

12/08/2018

Damn what a lacklustre season finale. This season has been one big fail.

by Anonymous

reply 359

12/09/2018

She sucks, she has no character, she fucking sucks hard, like sucks so fucking endlessly badly sucks

by Anonymous

reply 360

12/09/2018

TWO YEARS FOR RETOOLING.

Doctor Who will be returning for another series - but Jodie Whittaker’s Tardis will not land again until 2020.

Series eleven came to an end on Sunday evening, with the Doctor answering distress calls from a battle-scarred planet.

But there will be no new series of the sci-fi show, which has notched up praise for Whittaker’s performance but also some complaints about “politically correct” storylines, in 2019.

Whittaker, and her trio of companions, Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gil and Tosin Cole, will instead reprise their roles on BBC One in 2020.

Doctor Who boss and head writer Chris Chibnall said work has already begun on the 12th series.

'We’re off again! Well we never actually stopped,' the Broadchurch creator said. 'As Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor and friends have been winning the hearts of families across the nation this autumn, we’ve been busy with a whole new set of action packed adventures for the 13th Doctor.

by Anonymous

reply 361

12/09/2018

R361 hardly a vote of confidence from the BBC

by Anonymous

reply 362

12/09/2018

r361 Ugh. If there is going to be any retooling, all options should be on the table: to keep or not to keep any of the current companions, Jodie, and Chibnall. Unfortunately, it looks like the BBC is keeping all of them. Ugh, even the three companions.

Three companions is too many. An hour a week is not enough to write in rich character differentiation for three companions. And without that, none of these companions will ever be as dearly remembered and loved as Rose, or even Donna.

Personally, I think Jodie should stay on, not because I think she's great (she IS adequate, which is about the same that I could say for Capaldi and I stuck with him) but because kicking her off now will crush nontraditional casting of the Doctor for a very long time.

Chibnall should go.

by Anonymous

reply 363

12/09/2018

Maybe it's just time to let the doctor go for another generation.

by Anonymous

reply 364

12/09/2018

They need the time to work with better writers to come up with better stories, and a season-long story arc (or maybe a couple), so that there feels like there's some momentum to the season.

They need an excuse to get rid of some of the companions. Either swap them all out for a new ONE (just one... preferably a gay man!), or peel two of them off and keep just one.... maybe go back and visit them from time to time, but concentrate on just ONE companion at a time.

by Anonymous

reply 365

12/09/2018

We used to have someone from the Broadchurch film crew posting here. They might have something to say about Chibnall. Or not.

by Anonymous

reply 366

12/09/2018

Something needs to to be shaken up. Might Chibnall use this gap to move on, and things get re-tooled?

by Anonymous

reply 367

12/09/2018

As if the BBC would become less PC in the next two years. ESPECIALLY if Labour takes over the government.

by Anonymous

reply 368

12/09/2018

How long before everyone on Downton Abbey gets a guest role?

by Anonymous

reply 369

12/09/2018

I liked the finale. A few nice callbacks for a couple of episodes this season including the big bad.

Too bad about the two year break. Being a writer for the BBC / Doctor Who must be cool. Just keeping your time and still get paid.

by Anonymous

reply 370

12/09/2018

It's not a 2 year break. It's a "bit over one year" break.

by Anonymous

reply 371

12/09/2018

Are my eyes fooling me or does the Doctor wear different-coloured shirts? Or am I not paying enough attention? It's hard to, this series.

by Anonymous

reply 372

12/09/2018

"Looks mineral."

Well done, Einstein. Sure doesn't look animal or vegetable.

by Anonymous

reply 373

12/09/2018

If they don't change anything, I sure won't be watching after such a long break.

by Anonymous

reply 374

12/09/2018

[quote] If they don't change anything, I sure won't be watching after such a long break.

Will you settle for diverse Daleks speaking in Jamaican accents ?

by Anonymous

reply 375

12/09/2018

Davros as Jar Jar Binks?

by Anonymous

reply 376

12/09/2018

I think the biggest problem of this season was that it was completely new. Everything was unfamiliar. Not a single creature, alien race, or character from past seasons. At times it did feel like a (bad) rip-off, because there was barely no trademark reference to the established Doctor Who universe (except for "I'm the Doctor", the phone booth exterior and the TARDIS sound effect).

I like the season on its own merit (say, Rosa and Demons of the Punjab), but I can see that some fans don't like too much new all at once.

by Anonymous

reply 377

12/10/2018

New would be fine if it were well-written and directed. New schlock isn't an excuse.

by Anonymous

reply 378

12/10/2018

The return of Tim Shaw was interesting. This episode seemed like a real Doctor Who episode. It was a connected episode. It should have been shown earlier in the run. I have no Idea what is going to happen with series 2.

by Anonymous

reply 379

12/10/2018

The radical helplessness of the new Doctor Who

by Anonymous

reply 380

12/10/2018

It had better be the fucking Daleks

by Anonymous

reply 381

12/26/2018

DW needs to jettison a lot of the finger-wagging at humanity, bring back threats and raise the stakes, and bring back its audience. L

et her clash with foes, show some angry Gallifreyan nature, make choices were there are to win you have to lose and excite us!

by Anonymous

reply 382

12/26/2018

I like Jodie as the Doctor. They absolutely need better writing though. They need to drop some companion. Ryan first, the actor is bad and I'm over hearing about his daddy issues and dyspraxia every time he makes two steps. It's an episode about Daleks, why are we spending all that time on Ryan and his dad? I felt like their scene would never end.

by Anonymous

reply 383

01/01/2019

Yes, yes. One more year to go, and hopefully we can jettison all the posturing SJW crap. I'm reminded of the 1st season of ST:TNG, where they seemed to talk about how primitive and backwards humans of the 20th century were ever 10 minutes.

Cut out the sociopolitical crap, improve the writing.

by Anonymous

reply 384

01/01/2019

I'm afraid I saw that ending (Ryan saving his dad) coming as soon as the dad showed up.

by Anonymous

reply 385

01/02/2019

OMG I deeply apologize. I forgot to put a spoiler alert.

by Anonymous

reply 386

01/02/2019

Meh.

I mean, probably one of the best episodes since the premiere, but sadly, that's not saying a lot.

I rewatched the Matt Smith years during the Doctor Who marathon leading up to the New Years special, and my god it was SO much better.

by Anonymous

reply 387

01/02/2019

The writing is TERRIBLE! Too bad, because Whitaker isn't bad. But the other characters -- well, they're not characters, the writers haven't bothered to create them as anything other than plot devices. Just dreadful. I miss Clara.

by Anonymous

reply 388

01/02/2019

The New Years Special was enjoyable enough. Very feel-good ending.

by Anonymous

reply 389

01/02/2019

Except it was New Years and not Christmas. I hate that Chibnall decided to break tradition just to do so. Shows he's arrogant as well as a poor showrunner.

by Anonymous

reply 390

01/02/2019

I doubt it was Chibnall's decision to move the special to New Years Day. Not to excuse the quality of the writing, but I think a lot of the blame must go to the BBC, either partially or fully for some of the choices. The decision to have the Doctor regenerate into a woman this time would not be Chibnall's. Making the current season educational, adding three companions, leaving the Doctor free of any personal conflict and basically making the show a children's programme is the BBC's decision. Based on these points of consideration, they looked for a showrunner who would/could execute this for them.

The decline of quality in the writing was startling in the special when you compare the story with 'Dalek' from 2005 when the Doctor re-discovered a Dalek there, too.

by Anonymous

reply 391

01/02/2019

The writing was just boring this season, which is a shame because Whitaker could have been a great Doctor (although I would have preferred Olivia Colman in the role). Since Season 10's writing was just as bad as this season, this makes back to back seasons of schlock.

At the link is a great example of the disconnect between critics and the audience. With respect to Season 11, Rotten Tomatoes gives a 94% approval rating as measured by scores given by 37 professional critics. However, the Audience Score is 24% as measured by the ratings given by over 5000 home viewers. Ouch.

by Anonymous

reply 392

01/02/2019

5.1million overnight uk viewers. The lowest ever for a festive special. I think they should have promoted the hell out of a Dalek being in this episode as the first returning monster for this series.

Wonder if there is any truth to the rumour that Jodie is pregnant and that’s why there is a gap year. Just seems like a stupid move other wise.

by Anonymous

reply 393

01/02/2019

They aught to focus group every future script with actual fans.

by Anonymous

reply 394

01/02/2019

This is what happens when your showrunner has some mixture of contempt for the audience and disinterest in the property. Even this special -- which could have been a partial return to form -- had to retcon Daleks, jettison UNIT unceremoniously, etc...

by Anonymous

reply 395

01/02/2019

Chinball has no idea how to write a DW episode. Poor Jodie.

by Anonymous

reply 396

01/02/2019

The thing with one gun on it that rotates very slowly and that could only fly recently, that takes over humans but can just easily be picked off of them... is the most dangerous thing in the galaxy.

Unless one character has a microwave oven/conventional oven they invented and are carrying around for some reason.

Daleks are boring and ridiculous.

by Anonymous

reply 397

01/02/2019

[quote]The decision to have the Doctor regenerate into a woman this time would not be Chibnall's

Stephen Moffat has gone on record saying that if they hadn't gotten Peter Capaldi, 12 would have been a woman.

by Anonymous

reply 398

01/02/2019

"Exterminated!"

by Anonymous

reply 399

01/02/2019

Now, after once complete series of Jodie, I can definitely say that I LOVE the plummy London accent, the irritated Scot's accent and that I really, really hate the Yorkie accent. I also hate all the references to Sheffield. Why? If they were hellbent, Horrocks would have made a better Doctor.

by Anonymous

reply 400

01/02/2019

[quote] Horrocks would have made a better Doctor.

I made that same argument when David Tennent was leaving. She would have been marvelous.

by Anonymous

reply 401

01/02/2019

The only thing wrong is 1) the writing and 2) too many companions

by Anonymous

reply 402

01/02/2019

Instead of having one elderly, one black, and one woman companion, all in the interest of inclusiveness, they could have just had one elderly black woman companion. They already had one great candidate. They killed her on the first episode.

by Anonymous

reply 403

01/02/2019

Bring back Bill.

by Anonymous

reply 404

01/02/2019

With her overbite, Jodie looks like a Matt Groening character.

by Anonymous

reply 405

01/02/2019

How about she ditches these companions real soon, and picks up a gay guy companion. There's never been a gay male companion, has there? Nope. Lesbian? sure! Now let's get some equal time for gay men, okay?!?

by Anonymous

reply 406

01/03/2019

[quote] There's never been a gay male companion, has there?

Don't be too sure.

by Anonymous

reply 407

01/03/2019

Captain Jack filled the bill...

by Anonymous

reply 408

01/03/2019

He was bisexual. Not the same.

by Anonymous

reply 409

01/03/2019

I think the term 'omnisexual' is correct. RTD once said "if it has a phone number, Jack will go on a date".

by Anonymous

reply 410

01/03/2019

But Jack's sexuality was only ever really explored on Torchwood, so it doesn't really count.

I just want a regular gay guy brit as a side-kick. Is that so wrong?

by Anonymous

reply 411

01/03/2019

[quote]I just want a regular gay guy brit as a side-kick.

I respectfully submit Stephen Mangan.

by Anonymous

reply 412

01/03/2019

[quote] I just want a regular gay guy brit as a side-kick.

WHO-MOPHOBIC Doctor Who branded ‘homophobic’ by outraged fans for giving gay character 30 seconds of screen time before killing him

by Anonymous

reply 413

01/03/2019

R397, I completely agree about the Daleks. They are boring and ridiculous at the same time. They can't move any faster than a motorized wheelchair, they can be dispatched fairly easily and their voices sound like a laryngectomy patient using one of those wands.

by Anonymous

reply 414

01/03/2019

Here's how to fix the show:

1) Dump Chibnall

2) Jodie needs to just stop with the northern accent...so grating. And, change her look. They have her dressed like she's a slow learner.

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